#veronica bounces btw archie and her parents

[jessicahambys]

considering betty was So concerned about archie’s opinion, you’d think they’d have at least one scene together this episode 

but nope

[youngerdrgrey]

save the cheerleader, etc. etc. // a riverdale moment

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outtakes from a fic unfinished wherein Veronica stays with Cheryl instead of going to the jubilee. Alternate ending to season one. + on ao3

// care warning: talk of canon suicide attempt

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i.

Archie rats them all out; rather, Hermione reads Archie’s text to Veronica and puts the pieces together. (The text, by the way, was a simple We should get Cheryl to the counselor on Monday. It could be nothing, but if she’s already tried drowning once….)

Hermione Lodge at least has the common decency to wait until they’re in the hall to snap at Veronica. 

Technically it’s not just cocoa. Not that Veronica should tell her mother that, Vee just needs something else to focus on for a second. Something other than the fact that her mother is legitimately suggesting sending Cheryl home to Penelope Blossom of all people.

“You know her mother, Mom. You’ve known her longer than I have, so I know that you don’t honestly believe that Penelope Blossom would be supportive right now. She’d spout some nonsense about Blossoms being stronger than this and call it a day. Or worse!” Cheryl once said that her parents would kill her, and that’s before it was confirmed that her dad’s a fucking murderer. "Forgive me if I’m not sending her back to the person who broke her.”

“And forgive me if I’m not letting my daughter get caught up in their madness.” Hermione towers over Veronica when she steps in closer. Over protective Mom-mode to the thousands, and the moment’s complete with a hard stare straight to her daughter’s eyes. "Leave that girl and her family alone. Do you hear me?”

“Yeah,” but Veronica’s not shaking in her sheer tights. “And I can’t believe it. First you want me to be nicer, then you push against every chance I have to prove it. I’m not like you, or Daddy. I can’t keep turning my back on good people—“

“Good people!?” Hermione full on huffs. “Clifford Blossom killed—“

“She’s not Clifford Blossom!”

“She’s worse!” Than a murderer!? “She could be, Veronica. You have to accept that.”

“No.” Cheryl Blossom might be one of the worst people to go to Riverdale High, but she’s nowhere near as bad as the parents in this town. She’s not as callous, or as unforgiving, or as quick to damn every single person who doesn’t fit within her idea of perfection. Sure, she’s a fucking bitch, but that doesn’t mean she should die. “I won’t accept that. I’m not going to the jubilee. Send the city my regards." 

Veronica wheels around on her heels. She only gets her hand around the doorknob before her mom speaks again.

“What about Archie?”

He’s got about a mountain of gauze wrapped around his knuckles, but he’ll be fine. (Later, Veronica will kiss along the cracks in his skin. He’ll assure her, again and again, that he’s okay, but it’s not him that she almost lost. Not him that she’d been itching to sit by on the ride back from the river.)

Veronica asks, “What about him?” Then she opens the door back into their suite. 

Cheryl hasn’t moved from her spot by the fire, but she makes eye contact with Veronica the second the door opens.  Veronica tries joking, “Guess a little privacy’s too much to ask for?"

Cheryl rolls her eyes. “Hotels aren’t soundproof, Veronica. Never have been. Probably never will be.”

“Great for the voyeurs, bad for everybody else.”

Cheryl hums in agreement while Veronica makes her way over. The cocoa’s down to the bottom now, just a thin layer of brown that’s almost see through. Veronica should probably refill it. Or maybe just some water this time. She shouldn’t be giving someone downers like alcohol when they had a night like this but sometimes—

“Thank you.” Cheryl glances over, purses her lips against whatever sort of add on would ruin the moment, then she says it again, “Thank you, Veronica. For everything.”

And Veronica doesn’t want this to be more than Cheryl can handle. She doesn’t want the full ABC Family breakdown, or the soul searching hug or whatever. She just wants to make sure that her new friend is okay, and alive, and maybe not gonna try this again once she gets the chance to be alone again. So she tries to defuse it. She says, “I’m keeping the shirt. I haven’t tried it on yet, but I am sure that it will look amazing on me.”

Cheryl’s eyes flash with a bit of her normal spark. “I can take it back.”

Veronica hums this time, plants her hands behind her and leans back into them. (It makes her chest arch, and Cheryl’s eyes definitely drop when she does it.) “You’ll have to pry it off me.”

Another flash, and the slightest hitch in Cheryl’s breath. “I’m game if you are.” (And Veronica is. Or was. Or will be.)

“Let’s get you warmed up first, ‘kay bombshell?”

Cheryl glances at Veronica like there’s a million ways she could warm up, but another blink and it’s all gone. She sips the last of her cocoa and wiggles the cup by its handle for a refill.

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ii.

Cheryl doesn’t sit — not immediately at least. When Betty had told Veronica about her day with Cheryl, Betty couldn’t get over how easily Cheryl had moved through her space. How Cheryl had straddled Betty’s legs to get close enough to put Betty on edge. How Cheryl had seemed so terrifyingly, perfectly normal until the moment that Cheryl had snapped. Which, at this point, does seem to be her modus operandi, but here, in Veronica’s bedroom, Cheryl stands still. Like she’s not even there.

“You can sit, you know.” Veronica pushes her bedroom door closed with a click. She shifts her phone in her hand enough so that she can click the lock too. “My mom’s not going to do anything. I think I made my point perfectly clear. I’m not leaving you, not after….”

“After I went under?” Cheryl offers. Her voice comes out as light as her eyelashes. Light as the ends of her hair now that they’re finally drying back to their normal color. But she doesn’t seem afraid of the words, even as Veronica blanches.

Veronica heads for her bed, reaching a hand out to Cheryl as she goes. “I was going to say after the night we’ve had, but—“ here their hands clasp so Veronica can lead, “Your way works too.”

Cheryl breathes out something that might’ve been a laugh. “Only it didn’t. Archie wouldn’t let it.”

“None of us would.” Veronica doesn’t let go of Cheryl’s hand once they sit. If anything, she holds tighter. Cheryl’s fingers still feel too soft, too pruned, and — “I’m sorry. I never should’ve left you earlier today. You were obviously going through something. And you needed someone there.”

“You were there, when it really mattered. I don’t—“ Cheryl sits up a little straighter. “You don’t have to babysit me. Go, have fun with Archie. You’re singing together, right?”

The kids in America song that always makes Veronica think of Meet the Robinsons and the Jonas Brothers. It took, like, three rehearsals for Vee to sing to the right lyrics without having to think about it. And their voices do sound amazing together.

“We have plenty of chances to sing together. This town has a party, like, every other week.” She tugs on their joined hands enough to knock Cheryl off balance. “I mean, it’s no New York, but—“

Cheryl groans. “What’s so great about New York anyway? What makes them better than us?”

New York’s familiar. New York’s constant motion in Manhattan, a flurry of people who are always in the way but somehow able to remind you of what little stuff you take for granted now. New York’s where Veronica Lodge became Veronica Lodge. Where she decided she didn’t need to go full on Blair Waldorf to have the same sort of presence of Leighton Meester on the steps. Where she kissed a boy for the first time and liked it. Where she grew up.

But Riverdale’s where she had to learn how to grow up. How to be a friend to more than just her friend group. How to be the kind of person she wants to be and commit to it.

Plus, Riverdale’s got Cheryl. Everyone. It’s got Betty and her mom and Archie and Kevin and Ethel and Josie and Valerie who definitely isn’t over Archie but doesn’t deserve any sort of animosity for being there when Archie apparently didn’t want anyone else to be. It’s got a whole world of people that she would miss for who they are and not only for the moments they’ve shared together.

So, “I don’t know.” Veronica glances over at Cheryl, gives a little shrug. “I’m not too sure if anything’s better than you.” Then she rolls her eyes at the phrasing and tugs her hand back. (Cheryl doesn’t let go right away, btw. She lingers.) “That sounded gross, but I’m just really glad you’re still here.”

And Cheryl might not be able to say it yet, but the way she bumps her shoulder into Veronica’s definitely feels like she might be glad too.

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iii.

Veronica sneaks a glance at her phone while Cheryl’s in the bathroom. There’s about a dozen texts from Archie and Betty and Josie about the jubilee’s best moments. Betty freaks about calling out the whole of Riverdale. Archie freaks out about performing for all of them. Josie asks that Vee tells Cheryl to check her phone. 

Veronica squirms into her covers at that last one. It’s a little weird being the main point of contact for Cheryl. But that’ll pass, won’t it? It’s not like Veronica’s marrying the girl; she’s just being a good friend.

But she does tell Cheryl that Josie’s worried. Mentions it between bites of Halo ice cream that she skims from Cheryl’s bowl since Cheryl doesn’t quite seem ready for that much junk food. Cheryl plays it off like it’s obvious, but there’s a second — another flash where it must click. Cheryl’s family might be trash, but they aren’t the only ones who could be here for her.

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